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Could someone please reiterate what the laws are about recording sermons in the US without the speaker's specific permission? Do they vary from state to state? What about posting the recordings, illegal?

First off, this was a Conference series given in France, not the USA.  So you ought to be asking about the laws in France.

In the US, with a telephone conversation, you're not supposed to record it unless the speaking person is advised that he is being recorded.  He then has the option to request that he not be recorded, at which time the recording cannot be used as evidence to indict him.  

But this has no effect in personal presence and live listening.  If you and another person are both there, you can both corroborate your testimony of what was said.  If you use a recording device and transcribe it later, nobody can accuse you of breaking any laws, because you were there and you heard it in person, and your associate confirms that what you have written down is accurate.

123-150 years ago an English Particular Baptist named Charles Spurgeon (acclaimed as the most widely-read preacher in history) gave numerous sermons in a well-known protestant church.  He arranged for a stenographer to take notes.  There were so many notes taken of his sermons that it took 20 years after he died for all  of them to be published.   Obviously, that was with his PERMISSION, but the point is, a recording device is not really any different than a notepad, they both are memory aids.  That was before recording devices had been invented.

If Fr. Pfluger doesn't want his words reported, then he shouldn't be speaking them aloud to a group of listeners.  How does he know some of them don't have perfect recall?  W.A. Mozart heard a performance of a closely-guarded choral composition one day in Rome.  He went to his lodgings and wrote it all down, from memory. So it can be done.  We can be smarter that that.  

I don't think there is any way to make a punitive case about this.  And if Menzingen tries to do so, all they'll do is draw attention to it.  So they're not going to, but if they do, it's going to backfire, so it's a win-win for us!!

They have yet to identify any ONE INSTANCE  of 'internet rumour'.  All they do is make sweeping statements about it.   And the lemmings lap it up.


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The reason I asked was: I was wondering if it is illegal for a parishioner to surreptitiously record a certain priest's public sermons and statements, and then post it online. If that is not legal, then would a transcription be? You would think that the SSPX priests would want their sermons recorded for the benefit of the faithful, I find a few old ones on Youtube, but it seems that this re-branded organization is very guarded about letting things be recorded. I think it is because they want no proof of their changes and the spurning of their founder.